HOW CARD GRADING WORKS

Demand for card grading was growing rapidly even before a massive surge in pandemic-era demand pushed the whole business model to its breaking point. The reality is that card grading is a meticulous process done by trained professionals, and it’s not easy for any company to scale it up quickly. You should understand why things take as long as they sometimes do, and you should also know what’s going on behind the scenes when a grading company takes possession of your cards. These are the steps a grading company will typically perform:

1. Receive packages; open and confirm that what’s in the box appears to be the same as what’s listed on the corresponding submission form

2. Enter the cards in an order entry system; update a web interface to let the customer know that their order is now being processed.

3. Research the cards; confirm that the cards submitted are listed correctly in the order processing system, and make any corrections BEFORE a grader sees the cards.

4. Itemize the cards; publish to web interface so that customer can report any errors.

5. Review the cards; grade numerically based on condition of the “big 4” – corners, edges, centering, and surface. There’s also consideration for the overall “eye appeal” of the card, especially in comparison to other known examples that have been graded previously. (Notice how this step is what we all think of when we think of “grading,” but in reality it’s just one of several steps in the process!)

6. Generate a unique label; assign a serial number to the card and print the label that will be included in the slab.

7. Seal the card; place it with the label in a protective plastic holder – known as the “slab” – and permanently close the holder so that it can’t be manipulated or tampered with. Each company uses different plastic holders for market differentiation, and in the past couple of years, different labeling styles have also become popular.

8. Review the slab; is it sealed properly? Is the label aligned correctly? Does the label accurately reflect what’s in the slab? Does the grade appear on point for the card as it appears?

9. Take your payment; and, chase down folks whose credit cards don’t go through to ensure that everyone pays BEFORE they see their grades.

10. Publish your grades to a web interface and/or email message.

11. Package your cards and ship them to you.

It’s a lot! The point is, there’s a lot that goes into grading a card. When a grading company takes your money and sends you a graded card in return, it conveys its assurance that your card is authentic (or not) and that the assigned grade, if any, is an accurate representation of the card’s condition and overall quality. Is this assurance 100% flawless? Not by a long shot – the Internet is replete with stories of bogus cards and autographs that slipped by the graders. But if you get lost in the vortex of these blogs and videos, take a deep breath and remember that almost all slabs carry reliable information, and in the cases when they don’t, many of the larger grading companies stand behind their work with some sort of guarantee.

Really, that guarantee is what it’s all about. Grading companies perform a valuable service that is more than directionally accurate; their assurance is effectively a securitization of your card, allowing you to sell it easily and assuring buyers of exactly what they’re getting. To the extent that a grader is having its slabs more frequently called into question, the market will discount that grader’s slabs with lower and lower prices over time. It’s the same way you’d see the stock market gradually (or quickly) lower the stock price of a company whose financial statements are unreliable – there’s still demand, at a lower price. That’s why quality grading matters.